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Yemeni Guantanamo inmates transferred to Saudi Arabia

Release of four detainees comes despite President-elect Donald Trump's demand for a freeze on transfers.

05 Jan 2017 21:03 GMT

Four Yemenis who were held by the United States at its Guantanamo Bay military prison have landed in Saudi Arabia.

The release of the four on Thursday came after the White House rejected President-elect Donald Trump's demand for a freeze on transfers.

Family members met the detainees in tearful reunions at the royal airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The transfers are part of a final push by President Barack Obama to shrink the inmate population there before leaving office on January 20.

A spokesman in the Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed to the families that the ministry will facilitate their visitations while they are being rehabilitated in the Mohammed bin Nayef Centre for Counselling and Care, located outside of Riyadh.